rparrish

About rparrish

Teachers and support team members across the district are seeing a growing number of kids and families who lack a stable food source and/or housing. To help the kids and families the district opened a Family Resource Center at Monticello Middle School. The resource center gives parents a place to get help and connect with food, housing, mental health or other services. It doesn’t matter which school a child attends – the family resource center is open to help them. The resource center was put together through donations and did not require district funds.

The Daily News wrote a front page story about the resource center that published March 2. This is another example of the district putting extra effort towards helping our kids be successful.

The Family Resource Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 11 am and from 1 pm to 3 pm.

Did your family live in Eugene or out of town? We lived outside of Eugene in a small farming community called Coburg. My house was right next to a cornfield.

Was your family farmers? No, my dad was a truck driver and my mom was a secretary.

Mrs. Hoyt, St Helens Elementary

Did any relatives live nearby? I lived right next door to my grandparents and they lived next door to my aunt and uncle.

Did you go to school in Coburg or Eugene? We attended elementary school in Coburg, but took the bus into Eugene for middle and high school.

Where did you go to high school? Sheldon High School – The Fighting Irish, class of 1988.

How many siblings do you have? I have one brother. He is a science teacher at Huntington Middle School in Kelso.

Were you involved in any high school activities? Yes, quite a lot. I played varsity softball my freshman and sophomore year and varsity tennis my junior and senior year. I was a cheerleader too – I loved school.

When you graduated from high school, did you want to be a teacher? No, not at all. My goal was just to graduate college. No one on either side of my family had ever graduated from college.

What did your parents/grandparents say about going to college? My grandparents actually said, “Well, we really value education, but are you sure this is what you want to do?” It was just so foreign to them; it still makes me giggle.

What did you do after high school? I enrolled at the University of Oregon.

Did you work during college? Yes, I had to work to put myself through school because it was not something my family saved money for.

Did you live at home while going to school? I was adamant that I was not going to live at home even though I was going to college nearby. I got an apartment, went to school part time and worked part time.

Did you go to the University of Oregon all four years? No, I ended up getting married while I was in college. When it was time to move I was not finished with my undergrad, my husband and I relocated to Portland. I transferred to Portland State and became a Viking.

What did you earn your bachelor degree in? I ended up graduating with a degree in sociology. I continued to work while in school, I got a job at a private school – Catlin Gabel.

Did you enjoy working at Catlin Gabel? I fell in love with working with kids.

Did working at Catlin Gabel change your career outlook to teaching? I started substituting at Catlin Gabel and it showed me I really enjoy being in the classroom. I decided to get my master’s degree in teaching.

Where did you get your master’s degree? I went to Lewis and Clark College and got my degree there. I was lucky because I was linked to Catlin Gabel. I was able to do my student teaching, be a TA, and be paid at the same time.

After earning your master’s, did you consider teaching in private school? No, I grew up with a public education and I wanted to get back to that.

What did the family say about graduating from college? My grandmother gave me a lecture. She said, “Stefanie, there are people that waste their money getting degree after degree after degree because they just want to have a career being a student.”

What was your reaction to the family comments? I just laughed. I’m proud of getting these degrees and it’s giving me an opportunity that my parents never had.

What did you mother say about your career path? My mother had passed away. She died from breast cancer at the age of 41. She fought breast cancer for five years.

How old were you when your mom passed away? I was 24, just finishing up at Portland State with my undergrad degree when she died.

Passing away at 41 is young, did this make you think of your own mortality? It was my lifetime goal to make it to 41.

What is your perspective on aging? You are not supposed to ask a woman her age, but I always say how old I am with a lot of pride – I am 48.

So where was your first public teaching job? Beaverton school district.

What grade did you teach? I taught 5th grade. It was in a very large school, probably twice as big as St Helens. My teaching team consisted of five teachers.

How many years did you teach in Beaverton? For two years and absolutely loved it. At that time, my husband was going through medical school and later residency. He accepted a job at Peace Health in Longview, so we moved.

What did you do for a job in Longview? At that point, it was too late in the year to get a teaching job. I was reading The Daily News and learned Mint Valley Elementary wanted volunteers.

What was it like volunteering at Mint Valley? I was lucky to be involved in a classroom at Mint Valley with Sharon Shope, who was the teacher at that time. I volunteered in her classroom the whole year and just loved it. That was my connection to the Longview School District.

Did you get a teaching job at Mint Valley? Yes, through volunteering I got my first job in the Longview School District working part-time at Mint Valley.

Who was the principal at Mint Valley when you hired on? Jerry Westendorf. It was the year 2000, I taught part time. I taught with Jill Pospichal.

Why did you work part-time? My family started the adoption process to have kids, so part time work was appealing to me. The nice part about that is that Jill’s son and my son have become very good friends. Now they go to Mark Morris together.

Is adopting a child an emotional experience? Yes, we were chosen by a birth mother to adopt a little girl. We were very excited, it was the end of the school year, so we thought it was perfect timing. The baby was born and the birth mother ended up changing her mind. It was heart breaking.

Did you continue with the adoption process? Yes, we were heartbroken, but the neat thing about that is what came next. A few months later, a birth mother approached us through our adoption agency. She wanted to choose a couple who couldn’t give birth to a baby, who would like to experience the whole process.

What does experience “the whole process” mean? I would go to all the appointments, we chose if we wanted to know the gender of the baby. It was just an instant amazing connection – a tremendous gift.

Was it nerve wracking to be back in the adoption process? Yes, because we just had an adoption that fell through, we were leery about being out of the adoption pool for a long time.

How did the situation turn out? So, we are going to appointments for our daughter and we find out she is going to be a girl. During the process, I had a weird feeling, so I called our adoption attorney.

What did your attorney say? I called and she said, “We have a baby boy that is going to be born in about a week and his mother had chosen another couple to be his pa

Sign of support made for Mrs. Hoyt

rents. The adopting couple found out they were pregnant and told her they were sorry but they could not adopt her baby.”

What else did your lawyer say on the phone call? She started to tell me more; this was going to be a boy; we were ready to have our girl; we knew our daughter was a biracial mix; this boy was the same biracial mix. It was amazing – I still get goosebumps when I think of it.

How long from when you received the phone call was your son born? From the call with the attorney to our son, Andrew’s birth was five days.

What are the feelings and emotions around a time like this? It was crazy; there was so much to be done. We had to check with the other birth mother to see if this was okay. We were very open and up front with both birth mothers and they were both excited their child would have siblings.

Do the kids attend school locally? They are both juniors this year. Andrew is at Mark Morris and Emily is at Kelso High. She has a nice network of friends and loves it. She loves the big school; Andrew loves the smaller school here. It is just perfect for each of them.

Was adopting two kids simultaneously like having twins? It was very much like raising twins. The first year I don’t remember a whole lot of. I got very little sleep. Needless to say, I took time off teaching.

How long did you take off from teaching? About five years.

Did you go back to working in school? Yes, I worked at St. Rose for 2 years and taught 5th grade part time with Mary Sue Hippi. She is such a dear friend. We both have the same philosophy on how we treat kids and how we like to teach them. It was just wonderful.

What is the philosophy? Just to be respectful of kids. It used to be that things were a little more authoritative in school, a little more rigid. Kids are smart, they sense when someone cares about them, loves them and wants the best for them. Developing relationships with my students is one of my favorite parts of my job.

What are the characteristics of a great teacher? They are caring, patient, and they have a lot of love. My students are my kids and I care about what happens to them and to their families.

What do you like to do outside of work? I like to read. I belong to a couple of book clubs.

What do you like to read? Gosh, that is why I love being in a book club. I like the variety. It stretches me in ways that I would not necessarily stretch myself, because different people choose the books each month.

What else do you like to do? I love to garden. I also love to bring cancer awareness to people. I am a two-time cancer survivor.

Can you tell me about your garden? I have a raised bed garden. I grow tomatoes, which is kind of crazy because my children do not eat them – I eat and give away a lot of tomatoes. I grow cucumber, basil, radishes, peas, carrots and all kinds of things.

What age were you diagnosed with cancer? I ended up discovering I had breast cancer at the age of 36, which was the same age that my mom was when she discovered her cancer. It was terrifying to think of the parallels.

Was the cancer caught in its early stages? Because of my mom’s medical experience, I started having mammograms when I was 30. They caught my cancer very quickly. I had to do radiation and a lumpectomy.

How did you manage being a Mom and cancer treatment? My kids were in preschool, so I dropped them off at school then would go do my radiation treatment.

When were you diagnosed with cancer for the second time? Four years ago, I discovered a lump. I was diagnosed with breast cancer again, but it was a different cancer. The treatment was a double mastectomy and chemotherapy.

How did the second diagnosis make you feel? I had made it past the 41, so that was good. I was single parenting at that time. I had just gone through a divorce and was raising my kids, so I felt like I had to fight to get better.

After the second cancer diagnosis what kept you going? I had a job I really loved, and a family who gave me tremendous support.

Did you keep working during treatment? I did not want to stop working, so I told my physician I needed to teach as long as possible. This is my whole life. I believe in being with kids and serving my community this way. It gives my life meaning.

Did chemotherapy make you sick? For the year I received treatment I would get chemotherapy on a Thursday, I would be fine on Friday, but then I would be sick over the weekend. But I stayed healthy overall, and I was able to teach the whole time.

Did you have any help? After chemotherapy on Thursday, a team of people who I worked with would come, volunteer their time, and wipe down this entire classroom with Lysol and Clorox wipes, so when I came back the next day I was coming back to a very clean environment. That continued the entire year. Their acts of kindness made it possible for me to teach and complete my treatments. I will always hold a great amount of gratitude for all of those coworkers.

Are you cancer free now? Thankfully I am cancer free.

Is life just a big circle? Yes it is. I think the longer you live and the more you go through, the more you see what is important.

Why did you want to work at St Helens Elementary? When Niki Reece agreed to hire me she asked, “Why do you want to come here?” I told her I wanted to be able to help kids who need the most help in our community.

What is teaching at St Helens like today? It is a mix of experiences. There are days that are challenging, and days that are very rewarding. We can have a lot of behaviors. We have many kids living hard lives for different reasons. The kids are often loved, but they are living in circumstances that are tough. It is just a real honor to be able to walk through that with them and be of help if I can.

What else? The most important thing I would like to convey is how special it is to be at St Helens. It is an honor to teach with the people I work with.

Where were you born? I am a third generation Astorian. My parents and my grandparents were born in Astoria, Oregon – we are Scandinavian.

Did you grow up in Astoria? I lived in Astoria until about 3rd grade, then we moved to a rural town named Knappa. Knappa is about 20 miles east of Astoria.

Did you live on a farm? We had a little farm with animals, horses, chickens, pigs and goats.

Why did your parents move to the farm? I think they just wanted to move out of town and it was closer to my Dad’s work.

Mrs. Campbell, St Helens Elementary

Where did your Dad work? My Dad (Bill Eastland) worked at the Wauna Mill as a chemist. He worked there 40 years before retiring. He is a wonderful man.

Can you tell us about your Dad? My Mother left the family when I was eleven years old, so Dad raised us by himself. He took on the challenge of raising three teenage children.

What was life like for three teenagers and a Dad? It was crazy, but it was wonderful. This was back in the 70’s and it was odd to have your Dad be the Mother too.

How old were your siblings when your Mom left? Thirteen and sixteen. I am the youngest.

Do you have older brothers? I had an older brother who passed away when I was 18.

When Mom left did you take on more chores? There were three of us living at home at the time as my oldest sister had moved away already. Here we were on a farm and none of us knew how to cook, clean, or do anything – we just figured it out.

Did you handle the hardship well? It was the school of hard knocks; the best kind of life I could ever ask for. Nowadays kids get upset if things are not the way they want them to be and my childhood was completely the opposite. It was struggle after struggle, yet was wonderful! I have great stories.

Instead of tearing the family apart, did challenges bring you together? Oh yes, for sure. Then my brother left and it just became my sister, father and me. I have great memories. My dad is a wonderful person – he took good care of us.

Where did you go to elementary school? I went to Hilda Lahti Elementary in Knappa, Oregon. The school is K-8. Kindergarten is at one end of the building and middle school is at the other end. Across the parking lot is high school, grades 9-12.

When did you graduate from high school? Knappa High School, class of ‘85.

What did you do after high school? I received some scholarships and headed off to Monmouth Oregon. I went to the Oregon College of Education for 2 years and double majored in PE and Elementary Ed.

So you knew right away you wanted to be a PE teacher? Yes

How did you know? I was into year around athletics – it was my passion. I was a state level hurdler and high jumper. My highest high jump in track was 5 feet 1 inch.

What happened after your first two years of school? I married my high school sweetheart and moved to Longview.

Did you continue your education? I attended Portland State University and got my bachelor’s degree in exercise science. I actually became the first in the history of my family to get a college degree.

What did you do after earning your bachelor’s degree? I started in a corporate wellness job, but was traveling and didn’t like it. I ended up having kids and stayed home for 10 years.

How many kids do you have? Two girls ages 25 and 27.

You stayed at home for 10 years and raised the girls – then what? I became bored. My friend told me, “If you go back to school I will too.” We applied to WSU Vancouver and became teachers together.

Who is the friend? Elizabeth Roffler. Her husband Jim Roffler used to be the basketball coach at LCC.

Did you earn a teaching degree? Yes, I earned a master’s in teaching elementary and that came with my PE endorsement.

Did you get a PE job after graduating college? No, I taught kindergarten, then 1st, 3rd and 4th grades for 5 years in Kalama until a PE teacher retired. I taught PE for 7 years for a total of 12 years in Kalama.

What changed after seven years as a PE teacher? Kalama displaced me and put me back in a classroom. I was miserable. I am a good classroom teacher, but I was not happy.

Was it hard to go back to the classroom? My whole career was in that gym. I had built a beautiful program from nothing. The kids didn’t play dodge ball, they didn’t play bomb a buddy and all these games that are not healthy. My principal at the time said “Darcy, if I would have had you as a PE teacher, I think my life would have been different.”

How long were you back in the classroom? I taught in the classroom for a half a year because I had kids in college.

Did something change in your life about this time? Yes, we ended up raising my sisters two kids. I was eight months into my first year of teaching when my brother-in-law passed away. The kids flew in the next morning and moved in with us.

How many kids did you have at home and what ages were they? We had 9, 10, 11, and 13 year-old kids at home.

How did you juggle a career and four kids? I don’t want to think about it. I wonder how we survived.

What was it like raising two kids of your own and your sister’s children too? You just make it work. Those kiddos have good lives now.

You seem like a resilient individual, is that right? Yes, it kind of happens when you have to be very tough from a young age.

Is resilience a generational thing? It was a different generation. You have to remember what I was doing at 5 years’ old – I was all over Astoria on a bike! I mean those were different times than they are now.

Growing up did you play outside all day? Yes, we went outside and were not allowed back in the house until the lights came on at dark. It was just a different childhood than what today’s kids get to experience.

What do you like to do for fun? Snowmobiling and traveling to tropical islands! We also like to go see the Seahawks play.

Are you a big Seahawks fan? I am a huge Seahawks fan.

Do you go to Seahawk games? Yes, we travel to the games. We’ve been to New York. This year we went to a game in Arizona. We have been season ticket holders for about 15 years. We are all in.

Do you get dressed up to go to games? Oh, yeah! Half my closet is Seahawks gear.

Have you met any Seahawk players? We met Richard Sherman and Jermain Kearse. We gave Jermaine Kearse a ride our Seahawk limo.

Do you travel to other cities for Seahawk games? One year went to a game in Seattle in a limo with our bags packed. There were six of us who went to the game then traveled from the game straight through to Vegas and went to the Arizona game the following Sunday.

Who is your favorite NFL player? Russell Wilson, I really like him!

What do you like about Russell Wilson? I like everything that he stands for. He is a really good guy. I love seeing him go to the Children’s Hospital on Tuesday’s. He does a lot for the kids.

What do you do when it’s not football season? We count the days until it is! We put it on the schedule and we cannot wait until the pre-season starts.

How did you get to Longview Public Schools? After teaching in Kalama and Battle Ground, the PE job at St Helens opened up and I was very blessed to get it.

What makes for a great PE teacher? I would say universally it is someone who puts the whole child first.

What do PE teachers help kids learn? Skill development and sportsmanship. But what comes before that learning is relationships and social and emotional growth. I can’t do anything out here until those kids know they are loved and respected by me.

Did you decorate your own office? Yes, I decorated this office for the kids – this is not for me. The office is for when they need a place to work on self-regulation. Some kids don’t know how to explain their feelings and need to be somewhere else to do that.

How has PE changed since you were a kid? When I was a kid it was more sports units. Now we have a curriculum and standards we are trying to achieve. We teach the whole child, so we are teaching nutrition through movement, which is cool.

Do you teach about fitness? We are teaching fitness components. They are doing goal setting; they have a “fit folio”.

What is a fit folio? A fit folio is a document with their fitness plan in it.

What is the best part about your job as a PE teacher? The very best part is just getting to spend time with beautiful little souls that love you no matter what. It is easy to make a positive impact on their life. They are very forgiving and very loving.

Is PE better if kids are having fun? PE doesn’t work if you take it too seriously. I say it’s not the Olympics. Pick up the bowling pin and let’s get going. Right?

Should kids get more time for PE? There used to be. I used to teach 3 days a week in my other district and thought that was perfect. I always think there should be more but we are fortunate to have what we have – and a district that supports it.

How does the district support PE? Our district gives us money every year to buy equipment for our kids. I try to be the best steward of that money that I can. Some districts do not give any money to the PE department for equipment.

Is St Helens a relationship-based school? Yes, students need quality adults to love them unconditionally and that is what I feel like we have in this building, an entire building full of adults who love these kids unconditionally no matter what.

Why did you become a teacher? I became a teacher because of the teachers that changed my life in a positive way. Great teachers are changing this world and this building is full of them.

Since you see kids each year, do you see growth? I get the benefit of seeing them year after year. I was telling Stephanie Teel, about a student whom two years ago she struggled, but now she has made so much growth on a personal level.

Do you love being a teacher? I love being a teacher. I became a teacher because I had good teachers, you know, when I talked a little bit about my childhood and the struggles and you say well you had a quality father and that made a huge difference and a close knit family. That is not the whole picture. The whole picture is I had great teachers.

Who were some of those teachers? Mr. Buddy, Mr. Chase, Arnie Swan, I had these teachers that were just so wonderful they changed my life, they really did.

Have you ever reached out to your childhood teachers? I called my kindergarten teacher when I graduated and told her, “You changed my life”. She said, “No,” and started crying.

Where did you go to school? My family moved to Clarkston, Washington when I was about six years old. I grew up and went to school in Clarkston.

Did you always live in Clarkston? No, in eighth and ninth grade we moved to an isolated American copper mining town deep in a remote area of Peru. It was an American school in a very small village.

Mrs. Slind, St Helens Elementary

How did mom and dad break the news about moving to Peru? One morning Dad said, “What do you think girls, we’re moving to Peru.”

Did you like Peru? Yes, it opened up my world. I learned not everyone lives or thinks the same way American’s do. I also faced discrimination for being different.

What was the name of the town? Toquepala, Peru.

What were the living arrangements in Toquepala? The company provided a small house and furniture.

Was it safe living in Peru? Back in the 1980’s Peru was not always safe, we had guards in camp who carried machine guns.

What did you do for fun? Fun was limited for a ninth grader. We would swim, read, hike and play games.

Did you travel to other places in South America? Yes, we had an amazing time traveling to Chile and seeing Machu Picchu.

Did you take up any hobbies in Peru? I took up running with my Dad and ran cross-country throughout high school. I still run every day before school.

When did you move back to Clarkston? We moved back for tenth grade.

Where did you graduate from high school? Clarkston High School, class of 1991 – the Bantams.

What did your parents do for work? Both my parents were teachers.

Does teaching run in your family? Yes, my mom (Susan Gentry) and dad (Jim Gentry) were teachers. In addition, my father’s three brothers are teachers, and all their wives are teachers too.

What grade(s) did your mom and dad teach? Mom taught kindergarten, which is great because I bounce ideas off her all the time. My dad was a fourth grade teacher, and then went into library.

Is anyone else in your family a teacher? Yes, my sister is a second grade teacher.

It sounds like you grew up in and around school, is that right? Yes it is. I grew up hearing about conferences, report cards – school was a part of everyday life.

Did your parents want you to be a teacher? Growing up my parents tried to steer me away from being a teacher. I earned a bachelor’s degree in Speech/Language Pathology before getting my elementary education certification.

Did you start your career as a teacher? No, I started in speech pathology, but was yearning for the sense of community being a teacher brings.

What does “sense of community” mean? It means the students and I are in this together. We are going to climb this mountain together. I like using the “mountain” and the “Little Engine That Could” as ideas to help us achieve goals.

How long did you work as a speech pathologist? After one year working as a speech pathologist, I went back to school and got my teaching certificate. I started teaching then had my three children.

Are your kids in Longview schools? Yes, two graduated from Mark Morris and one is a junior in high school.

What is the most fulfilling part of your job? Seeing the growth in our students. To see a kid go from not knowing how to hold a pencil at the beginning of the year to writing their opinion by the end of the year is amazing. To see the kids believe in themselves.

What are the characteristics of a great teacher? You need to be patient and persevere. When you feel like you cannot give anymore – you have to give more. Great teachers are flexible. Flexible to see when something is not working and change to something that does.

What else does it take to be a great teacher? An overarching quality of an effective teacher is a strong work ethic. Teaching is such hard work.

What is the best part of being a teacher? Having a student’s face light up when they look at you and say, “I did it!”

What is the biggest challenge in teaching kindergarten? Meeting student’s needs. They all have individual needs. Social emotional and academic needs are sometimes high. Sometimes it feels overwhelming, but I am optimistic that the kids can learn.

How would you sum up your teaching style? Many teachers I know teach with effortless grace. I am certainly not one of those teachers. I just try to work as hard as I can with the amount of time I’m given. We have steep mountains to climb in terms of learning. I see great potential in our students!

Do you have a positive outlook on the future? I do. Meeting the kid’s needs is a challenge, but our kids have a lot of potential – they can do amazing things.

What are some of the thing you enjoy outside of work? I love running, it’s my mental release. I run four miles every morning and sometimes do longer runs on the weekend.

Have you run in races? Yes, over the years I have run numerous races. Half marathons are my favorite. I did run the Portland Marathon for my 40th birthday.

Is running a marathon hard? Yes, but honestly, teaching kindergarten is harder than running a marathon.

Where did you go to college? Northwest Nazarene College in Nampa, Idaho and Central Washington University.

What is your favorite food? Gelato. I absolutely love gelato. In addition, I love bagels. I eat bagels all the time.

What flavors of gelato do you like? I usually like to sample flavors – but pistachio gelato sounds wonderful.

Have you ever had a New York bagel? Yes, my parents took my sister and me to Morocco. On our way to Morocco, we went through New York City and ate great bagels.

What is Morocco like? Morocco was like nothing I’d ever seen, a total sensory overload of sights and smells. The craziest thing was crossing the street – they do not stop for pedestrians.

What other things do you enjoy doing? I love hiking, which we do as a family. I also love baking and reading.

Can you tell us a hiking story? Yes, my son Gabe and I backpacked around Mt. Hood – we had a blast. The hike was 40 miles and pretty arduous. On the first day, we were so excited we walked 19 miles. The next day we were feeling great and hiked the remaining 21 miles. The hike was tough, but we did it.

Did the hike teach you anything? Yes, you can do more than you think you can.

What do you like to bake? Fresh bread. Getting my hands in the dough and kneading – I love it. My favorite recipe is an old farm style bread.

How often do you read? I read every night. Historical fiction is my favorite, like Jane Austen.

What is your favorite color? Yellow.

What is your favorite number? 100. One hundred is a hallmark number for kindergartners.

Planning for vacation and family celebrations is important. While final details of the next year’s school calendar are not yet finished, several important key dates are set. To help you with planning below are important dates for the 2019-2020 school year. These dates have been finalized and approved by the School Board. (Please note the calendar for Broadway Learning Center is different and parents should check with Broadway for 2019-2020 calendar dates.)

Event

Date

First day of school

August 28, 2019

Winter holiday

December 23, 2019 – January 3, 2020

Spring Break

April 6-10, 2020

High school graduation

June 6, 2020

Last day of school

June 11, 2020

A more detailed 2019-2020 school calendar will be sent to parents and families in the Spring. If you have questions please contact your local school.

Longview Public Schools plans to put a capital bond measure to voters later this year. Capital bonds raise funds for school districts to upgrade facilities and build new schools.

To provide citizens information about the bond measure three community input sessions will be held. At the meeting you will get information on the facility upgrades and changes the district’s Facilities Advisory Committee has recommended.

Thursday, January 24 at 6 pm, district administrative offices next to RA Long High School – 2715 Lilac Street.

October is bullying prevention month across the nation. The goal is to raise awareness about bullying and prevent bullying from taking place.

At St. Helens Elementary school they are taking bullying awareness and prevention to a higher level in October by participating in the 21 Days of Kindness event.

“21 Days of Kindness” is a national effort to promote kindness as a way of preventing bullying. Students are encouraged to commit 5 acts of kindness each day and record them on a long, thin slip of paper. The pieces of paper are collected each day, then folded into a circle and stapled together to create a chain.

Over the entire month of October St. Helens Principal Stephanie Teel expects more than 2,000 kindness slips will be formed into a kindness chain. The chain is then hung on the gymnasium wall, with a goal of having the chain circle the entire gym.

“Kindness is part of our school pledge”, Teel said, “And the kids are having fun.”

When asked about participation Teel said, “The kids were super engaged once they saw the chain of kindness.”

The goal is to reduce the number of behavior referrals, raise awareness about bullying and prevent bullying.

Leadership is also part of the event. Each day four students are chosen for their good behavior to collect and count the kindness slips, then fold and staple them into a chain.

“We’re looking for the student leaders to be positive role models in the school,” Teel said.

Once the event ends the number of kindness slips will be submitted to organization founders. The founders will then send a personalized YouTube message to the school congratulating them.